What is the purpose of this web site?
What is “equality and diversity”?
What does the law say about equality and diversity?
Is “positive action” the same as “positive discrimination”?
What is the difference between direct and indirect discrimination?
Where can I find out more about it?
Who is the website aimed at?
Who is running this website?
Which Sector Skills Councils are contributing to this work?
How can I tell you about our equality and diversity work?
What in the purpose of this web site?
This website is a central resource and information and signposting hub to promote the business case for equality and diversity in the workplace and to provide some basic materials for employers and Sector Skills Councils to support their work on equality and diversity issues.
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What is “equality and diversity”?
Click here
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What does the law say about equality and diversity?
The UK implements equality and anti discrimination legislation that is common across the European Union [EU]. The law says that employers must not discriminate against workers or job applicants on grounds such as race, sex, age etc. Check www.acas.org.uk and http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/Pages/default.aspx
See also this website’s business case briefing on the legislative framework
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Is “positive action” the same as “positive discrimination”?
No. Positive discrimination is illegal in almost all cases, except when the legislation allows for genuine occupational qualifications [e.g. female workers in a women’s refuge].
Equality legislation allows you in limited circumstances to take “Positive Action” to tackle marked levels of historical under-representation of people in categories covered by the anti discrimination legislation. Such provisions of
the legislation enable you to encourage applications for jobs or promotion
from specific sections of the community that are under-represented in the
workplace as a whole or at particular levels.
However, the legislation does not allow you to positively discriminate e.g. to recruit or promote people on the basis of their gender or race. It is important that no favouritism is shown in selection or promotion procedures.
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What is the difference between direct and indirect discrimination?
Direct discrimination is treating someone less favourably than others in a similar situation because of their gender, ethnicity or other features covered by the legislation. Indirect discrimination is including conditions within jobs, or procedures that lead, deliberately or otherwise, to certain categories of people being excluded from jobs or opportunities open to others in similar situations.
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Where can I find out more about it?
There is a great deal of information about equality and diversity in the workplace, there are some useful links on this website, some links in the employers’ toolkit – case studies and on Sector Skills Councils’ websites.
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Who is the website aimed at?
It is aimed at:
Employers – providing information, advice, a toolkit of resources, including strategy and action plan templates for use, case studies of good practice and comprehensive signposting to reliable sources of expert advice
Sector Skills Councils – providing an overview of recent strategic development work within SSCs and the Skills for Business Network [now the Sector Skills Alliance] on equality and diversity issues and raising issues for further development
Others – giving an overview of equality and diversity issues in the workplace in the Skills Sectors
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Who is running this website?
The Skills for Business network’s cross sector project on equality and diversity conducted and commissioned the initial research and the development of the web site. Consultants Teresa Lavery, Marion Lacey, Romena Huq and Mike Hender worked on the development of this website. After April 2008 the Skills for Business network becomes the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils – the arrangements for cross sectoral work will be published as soon as they are agreed.
The two project leaders at March 2008 are
Bansari Somani – Bansari.Somani@skillsactive.com – (0207) 632 2000
Simon Leckie –simon.leckie@skillsforjustice.com – (07917) 326 573
You can also contact us via the web feedback link
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Which Sector Skills Councils are contributing to this work?
The Sector Skills Councils that were involved in developing the content that is available on this website are:
- Skills for Justice
- SkillsActive
- Skillset
- Asset Skills
- Go Skills
- Skills for Health
- LifeLong Learning UK
- Creative and Cultural Skills
- Lantra
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How can I tell you about our equality and diversity work?
Contact your SSC or use the feedback button to tell us about your work on equality and diversity
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